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Sec. iii] INTACT AND OTHER BURIALS IN TOMBS OF GROUPS vi—x 665

pieces, plain or in damask, described under ix. 2. 08-9, 015-16 (P1. XXXVI), were recovered. Below the feet, cased in plain and badly rotten canvas slippers, there lay fragments of paper, ix. 2.018, mostly decayed, bearing Chinese writing, evidently waste inserted to fill up the empty space. Under the silk wrapped round the head was found the face-cover ix. 2. of (Pl. LXXIX), made up of two pieces of figured silk, both of ` Sasanian ' type and recovered only in fragments. Against the right proper of the head there rested the circular toilet box of lacquered wood ix. 2. 03 (Pl. LXXXIX), well preserved and containing a miscellaneous collection of small articles in similarly perfect condition. Among these are a small silver mirror showing an embossed lotus design at the back ; a fine wooden comb ; cosmetics or medicaments wrapped in papers, including a small piece of felt with rouge. At the bottom lay folded up a sheet with Chinese writing and seals, evidently a document. Near the head, which was supported from the left proper by a cushion covered with white ` Khäm' and containing chaff, there were found the spindle ix. 2. a. 09 (Pl. XCIV) and the wooden measure ix. 2. a. o8 (PI. LXXXIX), with divisions which, though not quite uniform, seem to mark Chinese inches. Farther down by the side lay the small bags ix. 2. 012-13 (Pl. LXXXII), made of silk decorated by the ` resist ' method, and a mass of small rolls of cuttings from diverse silks and other fabrics, ix. 2. 021.

The big coffin b in the middle still held strongly together, though, as in the other two, only dowels and wooden pegs had been used in joining the heavy boards. It was covered outside with a sheet of muslin-like silk, ix. 2. b. 012, painted with the same figures of Fu-hsi and his consort, human above the waist and ending in entwined serpentine bodies below, which appear on the hanging previously mentioned. The lower portion of this cover had become very brittle and decayed, and a fringe of dark red silk on its edges broke away practically into dust when touched. Underneath this painted cover lay a plain sheet of creamy silk, and this again rested on a sheet of ` Khâm', ix. 2. b. ou, bearing, like that from ix. 2. a, a Chinese inscription and seal stamps [see App. I]. The coffin was tied round with rough cords in three places. The body within (Fig. 323) did not prove quite of that gigantic stature which the large size of the coffin had suggested. It measured 6 feet 1 inch with the legs slightly bent in death agony. It was that of an elderly man, with scanty beard of yellowish grey and one front tooth missing, and lay between a rough matting. Cushions of coarse cotton material stuffed with millet chaff had been placed so as to fill at least partially the empty spaces left at head and feet. The latter were stuck in black felt mocassins, resembling the present ` Paipaks ', and badly decayed.

The whole body was wrapped in a shroud of plain silk which had been probably- white but had darkened into light brown in most places. Beneath this, the body from the neck downwards was covered with ` Kh5.m ', which was placed over rags of miscellaneous fabrics, including some remains of garments in plain coloured silk, as seen in the specimen ix. 2. 020. Among them was also found the curious fragment of a patchwork, ix. 2. 019 (Pl. LXXVII), with small squares cut from a figured silk of ` Sasanian ' style. Underneath the silk shroud the head wore a face-cover of polychrome figured silk, ix. 2. 017, which was much decayed and could be removed only in fragments These show that the design was ` Sasanian ' in style and not unlike that found in the fine ` boar's head ' piece Ast. 1. 5.03 (Pl. LXXVI). The pair of silver ` spectacles ' ix. 2. b. 09 had in this case been put over, instead of as elsewhere below the face-cover. No coin could be seen in the open mouth of the dead. By the side of the head lay the small round basket of neatly woven cane ix. 2. b. o8 (Pl. LXXXIX), and placed in it a sandal-wood comb, two folded pieces of fine silk, and six Tang coins, with the legend, K`ai yiian, showing no signs of wear. Near the head lay also the crown-shaped paper hat ix. 2. 023 (Pl. XCIII), decorated with bands of yellow silk damask and gilt ornaments. It closely resembles the headgear seen in the painting Ast. vi. 3. 05.